I think having a blog can help you communicate with your clients, and even get to know them better. It’s definitely a plus if the freelancer has enough time to update it every once in a while.

Michael: Great points here! Well done. Since I’m going to be starting up a business blog when I get my website going as well (currently in talks about a revamp of the whole biz), I’ll be reading even more of you!

Got to give it to michael!!
I can only agree 2 disagree with the original article. There is much more 2 blogging, as like Michael states, it is a real business, which is so underrated.

You mean Robert’s article or Michael’s opinion?

In any case, I thank you both for the insights. I myself am a Graphic Designer that are very much thinking about expanding my online presence into a blog and the likes. As you can see, my current website is just a simple gallery showcase of my favorite works. My biggest hurdle to expanding it into a blog, however is the uncertainty over what to write about, and how to write it. I have a personal blog, in which I talked about almost everything under the sun, whenever I feel it. I’m just not sure I have the elegance to talk about my industry and be constantly entertaining.

Personally, I felt that for Graphic Designers/Visual Artists, just having posts in regards to materials you worked on is no longer sufficient to generate enough traffic and maintain visitors interests. You need to really have something interesting to say, and one that will hopefully get visitors to remember your site and get back to you regularly. A favorite example would be David Airey as a Designer whose blog is very successful. Unfortunately, I don’t see many other examples of successful Designer blogs. Most of the great content I read online are written by .. no surprises here, writers! I don’t know too many other successful Designer blogs. And in fact, even David Airey doesn’t really talk about Design all the time in particular. His blog breaches many other subjects such as Blogging, Freelancing, SEO, etc etc.

What do you guys think about this? Any advice for a Graphic Designer just starting out on Blogging would be greatly appreciated. Any links of great Designer’s blog would also be appreciated.

Cheers, and thanks!

Interesting article!
Now, what do you guys at FreelanceSwitch think of Twitter as a marketing tool?
It would be great to know how you guys see that.

It seems like having a blog these days is just as important as having a portfolio. I do think I would hire someone with a good blog over someone who doesn’t, simply because you can get to know the person through it, whereas you can’t so much just by looking through their portfolio.

Brilliant article. Setting up a blog is one of the best decisions I made as a freelancer and contractor. It’s a great vehicle for getting yourself in front of people and networking with potentional clients. If someone asks me for more information I simply send them to my blog URL. Before, I’d need to produce some glossy and expensive brochure to market myself and my wares. Now all I have to do is just blog.

On a similar note, blogging also solves the age-old paradox that states: you cannot get work without experience but you cannot get experience without the work.

Blogs can also help you re-position your business in new markets. If you want to move into photography, start a photo-blog and display your snaps. If you want to work as a writer, copy-writer or editor, blog about that and use your articles/posts as work examples. If you want to get into web design and web coding, well there’s litterally no better platform - use your own custom design for the blog and showcase it to the world.

Blogs are simply brilliant for the freelancer and a must have.

What’s domain mapping, and how does one do it in blogspot?

Thanks in advance.

Looks like you need to chew what your own words said. Inserting personality is key to blogging, but this post was completely void of it. Perhaps it is because it’s one of the oldest topics in the books as far as freelancing goes, but this post had my head banging on the corner of my table groaning “Durrrrrrrr…”

Personality needs to involve some personal voice. You may never get more interaction with your clients than what you do through email, but they like to know they aren’t replying to your computer and keyboard. A client is far more interested in the person behind the writing, the designs, and the complex lines of code. They want a person with an active voice in what they are doing. I’d much rather team with someone that can involve their voice, their attitude, their personality into their work rather than bust out the project perfectly, but still leaves that personal aspect needed.

In fact, I’d say its the imperfections in a personality that makes someone worth working with. And the imperfections in a blog - their voice, their opinions, their thoughts and experiences - is what makes it readable and able to talk about.

This post is in need of a serious make over with a bit of pizazz. Jokes, ignorance, sarcasm, and a complete loss of caring about SEO/keywords is what makes a blog an excellent marketing tool. Make me laugh, cry, smile, make me do anything that makes my eyes change shape in front of my monitor, and you’ll know that was one sexy blog post worth marketing to potential clients.

-Fin-

Justin Dupre
http://justindupre.com

Good post with some great comments. It is interesting to read this just as I am trying to figure out the future of my own blog. As a newish freelancer I realized the importance of starting a blog - but now that its there I don’t feel like I have the time to spend on it that it needs.

It is a hard balance. How much time should I spend researching and writing a post that my potential clients may be interested in, just for my 6 or 7 readers? It makes me want to write shorter, more personable posts about what’s going on in the office - but how would that help me get new business?

I’ll be interested to see more on the comments about what kind of blogging designers should be doing to increase business without turning into probloggers.

(Thanks for your comment Michael - informative without being hurtful)

Well… i hope this comment will bring people to my blog…

The original post suggests that you can build your business with an all-about-me, written-for-whoever blog. But if you want to get clients with a blog, you need to clearly identify who your prospects are and write stuff they want to read. They want information that will help them solve their problems. They don’t care about your latest project unless it shows them a solution to a problem they have.

Offering how-to information has worked great for me. Designers might write about visual branding, usability, SEO, how to choose a host, etc.

Your goals are to clearly establish your niche, build credibility in that niche (with your clients, not just other bloggers), and filter out the prospects that you don’t want. For example, if you want corporate work, your blog addresses corporate concerns, not things that only small businesses care about.

Hey, Skellie, how about a “Freelancers, here’s why you DON’T need a blog” topic?

If you’re a writer, a blog can be good advertising for what you do.

If you do anything else for a living, a blog is likely going to be a waste of time that you could spend actually doing real networking and marketing activities that move your business forward. Real corporate clients will not bother to read your blog.

Not everyone is a writer. Not everyone has to be a writer. Sorry blogger-wanna-bees, but the world does not need more bad writing.

Full disclosure: I have a blog for one of my businesses, because it ties into the function of the site I created for freelancers. However, my consulting business does not have a blog, since it would detract from my marketing messages for that business.

Just a couple of months ago I decided to rebrands myself. Instead of a boutique design agency, I’m now a branding and design consultant. One of the criteria to do so, was to establish myself as an expert in my field (whether or not I pull it off is another story !
To do this, my first step was to start a blog. My blog is based on “web 2.0″ and social media branding as well as traditional branding. I write about brands that are launching on and offline, and also write some Sabet Brands centered articles! It’s a great way of letting people know about projects I’m working on and how I perceive other brands that are out there. If done right, this should create an air of credibility and experience.
Now, not too many people hit my blog yet..but by just starting the blog, my outlook on myself and self-worth has changed dramatically and has created a huge impact on the type of clients I’m attracting. Now I’m catering to the web 2.0 start-ups that have funding and value my time..rather than the dude who just wants a cool logo and has no budget!
Blogs are good for both you personally and your business. Great article guys.
Ali

Prospect or clients do not have time to read blogs. Simple as that.
They are busy people.

i ditched my blog earlier this year. i know full well i am not an original thinker when it comes to writing about my business (web design) and whilst i really enjoyed writing a chatty blog (oooh, look at this youtube video) it had become a total time sinkhole. i have now a small section on my portfolio that calls itself a blog where i can write if i feel the need but i do not promote it separately. the ‘everyone’s got one’ blog boom is on its way out and only the really talented bloggers will be left.

Good on you, Michael!
When I read Robert’s article, I thought, “Oh my, this is really bad stuff!”

There is one point where I disagree with both Robert and Michael. Robert suggests using a free Wordpress.com blog - which immediately brands you as an amateur. Michael suggests using a Wordpress.com site as a ‘throw-away blog’ until one can REALLY start blogging. No, I don’t agree.

I think that one should start out blogging in earnest, right from the first day. Starting out in earnest means, for example, thinking long and hard about the domain name. We are not looking for a name for Misty the poodle’s new pup here! This is not a casual moment! This is a core piece of creative work. The blog name has to reflect what you are trying to sell, it has to reflect your style, it has to be memorable, and it has to be keyword rich if possible. So, Robert’s blyth comment, ‘If you can’t think up a clever domain name, just go with your own name.’ really grated on me. It’s unprofessional.

Starting out in earnest also means building your blog and staying with it until the trainer wheels drop off naturally. To play around first, get some subscribers, and then switch to a ‘real’ blog seems a daft idea to me. Each subscription is hard-earned and should not be thrown away. I have seen quite a few blogs re-start with a new title and new address - and lose most of their subscribers on the way.

By the way, this is my first visit to FreelanceSwitch.
I’m disappointed.

i’d rather design stuff for people rather than blogging. it’s what i like doing.

Great article, I’ve been working on my blog recently as well and am loving it! Keep coming with the good reads!

Thanks for the advice Michael. I am wanting to start a blog soon, and will definitely be reading more of your posts.

The big question is this: How do I make something that doesn’t ‘give away the store?’ Michael’s ideas are great, but if I put my best ideas in my blog, why should they hire me?

Sorry folks. Love your site, but this article was just plain bad advice. Thank you to Michael for his comment.

I would also add, PLEASE don’t post sketches and comps of work in progress. Not only is it a great way to give your client’s competitors and edge, but it could also get you in some serious legal trouble (not to mention very quickly losing a client).

Once again wishing our industry had just a few more professional standards…

-j

I am a freelancer and am looking to kind of redo my website a bit, and keep my blog (which is currently not very exciting.. but I’m looking to build up on it :)). I have a question: would it be better to have a different domain for my blog than my portfolio, or have them on the same domains? I am not worrying about the cost at all (already have a VPS in mind and domain names are what.. 9 bucks a year?), just at the smartest decision. I might make it so designandprogram.com is my main website, on the home page mention my services, and that I also have a blog.. blah blah blah. Then maybe have the blog at “blog.designandprogram.com” or something like that. Or, instead of a subdomain, would it be better to have it on an entirely different URL like “mackusblog.com”, etc. (that one just popped in my head, I’m not sure on the URL).

Thank you very much in advance for any answers, and for your great blog - it has helped me loads over the years

– Michael

This is a cool way to drive traffic to your blog. It’s a site about leisure activities that lets you post tips and include a link back to your blog.

had a blog on my portfolio site a while back, but never committed to it and removed it pretty quickly. I think that’s the problem; if you’re going to put any time at all into a blog, you need to make sure that time is worth spending and you start out focussed on exactly what you want to achieve.

I certainly need to rethink who my audience is, in terms of writing content that is actually of use and solves my clients problems/answers questions they may have - it’s a valuable resource for them then, rather than a list of my favourite Photoshop techniques or whatever, which has no meaning/value to clients and belongs more on a personal blog. i think you can mix it up once in a while though, maybe to write about something great you’ve discovered which demonstrates enthusiasm and gives you the chance to inject some of that all important personality.

i have no idea why anyone would use a .wordpress blog when it’s so simple to set up under your own domain, it looks like a lack of effort.